The activist campaign to shut down "Homan Square" continued Thursday afternoon with a protest of approximately 40 people outside the Chicago police facility, which allegedly functions as an "off-the-books" detention and interrogation center. Progress Illinois was there for the protest.

The activist campaign to shut down "Homan Square" continued Thursday afternoon with a protest of approximately 40 people outside the Chicago police facility, which allegedly functions as an "off-the-books" detention and interrogation center.

The protest to demand that Homan Square be shuttered is one of several that has come in response to last week's explosive story and subsequent reporting by The Guardian, claiming that suspects detained at the "secretive" police facility, located in a former Sears warehouse on Chicago's West Side, have been beaten, abused and denied "basic constitutional rights," including access to counsel.

"We must stand together, here at Homan Square, and demand an end to this injustice, to this lethal farce our country calls law enforcement right now," said Jeanne Dauray with Progressive Democrats of America, one of various groups represented at the rally, convened by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. "This situation here at Homan Square is just another example of the violation of our constitutional rights. ... Shut down this facility. Shut down Homan. Shut down this system that is making a mockery of the very principles this country was found on."

For its part, the Chicago Police Department hasdenied any wrongdoing, adding that Homan Square, which houses special police units and a ballistics lab, is not secret, as the complex also contains the department's "Evidence Recovered Property Section" that is accessible to the public. CPD has also hosted press conferences at Homan Square, located at the corner of Filmore Street and Homan Avenue, the department has noted.

Brian Jacob Church, one of the so-called "NATO 3" protesters who was held at Homan Square in 2012, also spoke at the rally. Church, whose case was detailed in The Guardian's report, says he was handcuffed to a bench for 17 hours and interrogated at Homan Square before being moved to the 11th District station to be booked. Church was part of a group of NATO protesters brought to Homan Square, where he says they were allegedly denied access to a restroom and "weren't allowed to talk to a lawyer."

"We're looking for this place, and places like this in this country and across the world, to be shut down," Church stressed in an interview with Progress Illinois. "Because we call ourselves Americans, we claim to be purveyors of freedom, and justice and humanity and all this stuff, but that's not what this is. This is disgusting. It's a black mark on our society."

Church is, however, "encouraged" by the demonstrations sparked by The Guardian's reporting.

"It actually makes me feel hopeful, because people are really starting to see that our country's not the kind of country that our politicians, and even mainstream media, have tried to lead us to believe," he said. "It makes me feel that there is some kind of hope for actually finally getting some type of justice."

"The problem," Church added, "is we need more people who have been inside this building to stand up and talk about their experiences, and we would really like to see people from the media actually be able to go inside and maybe livestream or take video of the interrogation cells and all the things that essentially the mainstream media and CPD and Rahm Emanuel have completely denied or haven't even talked about."

Church and the two other men of the "NATO 3" were found guilty of mob action and possessing an incendiary device to commit arson back in February 2014, but they were acquitted of more serious terrorism charges they faced. Church spent two and a half years in prison and is now out on parole.

Here's more from Church as well as Frank Chapman with the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression: CLICK HERE TO PLAY VIDEO

At Thursday's protest, activists called on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to shut down Homan Square, terminate Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy and support a long-stalled ordinance that would provide reparations for those tortured under former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge.

Burge and his officers have been accused of using torture to coerce over 100 African-American Chicagoans into confessing to crimes, such as rape and murder, that they did not commit between 1972 and 1991. Burge was convicted in 2010 of perjury for lying about the police torture tactics, and was released from federal custody last month after serving a four-and-a-half year sentence.

The pending reparations ordinance -- which has languished in the Finance Committee chaired by powerful Ald. Ed Burke (14th) since its October 2013 introduction -- would require the city of Chicago to set aside $20 million for financial compensation and other forms of redress to 94 Burge torture survivors who have been unable to sue for various reasons, but mostly because their statute of limitations expired. Twenty-seven aldermen have signed on to the measure, which would serve as a formal apology to the police torture survivors and their families, supporters say.

Demonstrators pointed out other alleged acts of torture by Chicago police beyond the Burge era. Anabel Perez, for example, shared the story of her son, Jaime Hauad. Perez says Hauad was tortured by Chicago police at age 17 and was wrongly convicted of murder in 1997.

Hauad is serving a life sentence for "a crime he didn't do," Perez stressed. "The torture committee did not pass my son's case, because he was not a Jon Burge [victim]. It's not all about Jon Burge, it's about all torture victims."

Protesters further demanded on Thursday that Emanuel require all police stations to permanently display information about free legal service provided by the non-profit First Defense Legal Aid to all detainees upon arrest, and promptly provide them with phone access to request such services.

"The city is very unclear on what the timeline would be on when they should have access to phone calls or legal access, so we are asking the city to specify what that time frame would be," said Alma Montes with First Defense Legal Aid. "We're asking the city, within an hour of being arrested, that people have access to a phone."

Additionally, activists want the U.S. Justice Department to launch an investigation into Homan Square and argue that Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez should resign, saying in a flyer distributed at today's action that she's been "complicit in covering up cases of torture and murder by police."

Members of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression also maintain that The Guardian's reporting on Homan Square bolsters their case for an elected Civilian Police Accountability Council, which would be tasked with investigating and prosecuting claims of crimes by police.

The group is calling for a Civilian Police Accountability Council because "we want to empower the people to hold the police accountable for the crimes that they commit. Presently, that is not happening," Chapman said.

A seperate action regarding Homan Sqaure, reparations for police torture survivors and "police violence accountability" is set to take place later this evening at City Hall.

Now that the ballots have been counted and the citizens of the commonwealth have spoken, we need Gov.-elect McAuliffe and our elected officials to focus on revamping our criminal justice system. Moving forward, efforts must be made to make the system more effective, less costly, and fairer — restoring faith in the system so that it can work for all Virginians.

The closeness of the election reminds us that even the small steps Gov. McDonnell took to re-enfranchise a few people who lost the right to vote because of felony convictions do matter. But a new policy brief from the Justice Policy Institute — a Washington-based think tank — shows that we still have an expensive and ineffective criminal justice system that doesn’t work well, is riddled with unfairness, undermines our faith in the system and prevents hundreds of thousands of people from moving on to a crime-free life. As a faith leader, I often must remind others about redemption. That is key to becoming a productive member of society.

In “Virginia’s Justice System: Expensive, Ineffective and Unfair,” JPI shows that Virginians collectively spend $3 billion per year on an expensive criminal justice system that arrests too many people for drug crimes — responding to what is often a public health issue with a jail cell instead of more effective and less costly treatment.

In 2011 alone, Virginia spent more than $94 million arresting people for drug offenses. Meanwhile, Colorado and Washington state recently have changed laws, policies and practices that prioritize drug law enforcement. JPI found that arresting more and more people for drug crimes has had no effect on reducing drug use, with drug use on the rise here in recent years.

McDonnell’s important but small steps to re-enfranchise some ex-prisoners aside, 7 percent of adult Virginians — and 20 percent of African-American adults — still have a criminal record. And along with bars on voting, a felony conviction can preclude one from certain jobs in an already tough economy. If we are serious about giving our citizens a second chance, we have to eliminate barriers to people being able to work, playing a role in their families, being parents and contributing to our community. Tasked with spreading the gospel, I am moved to remind our parishioners — and our policymakers — that restorative justice and redemption work. It is written in Matthew 6:12, “And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” If we want mercy and grace for ourselves, we have to be willing to extend it to others.

Virginia’s criminal justice policies affect all of us, but how the system works for African-Americans undermines our faith in the justice system. African-Americans constitute roughly 20 percent of the adult population, but are nearly half of all Virginians who are arrested, and more than six in 10 people in prison. Research shows that whites and African-Americans have similar rates of drug use, but African-Americans bear the brunt of our drug laws.

I know that we can restore faith in this system: Virginia can have a fairer, more effective and less costly system that will free up funds for better ways to reduce crime and build communities. And JPI’s research points to some ways we can get started.

First, we have to look at our sentencing practices. Long sentences for less serious crimes only drive up costs and have little public safety impact. Small, sensible changes to these laws can make a big difference. For example, changing the financial threshold amount that distinguishes larceny from grand larceny from $200 to $600 could save the state approximately $22.5 million over six years.

Second, we have to take another look at Virginia laws that eliminated parole, and our “truth-in-sentencing” statutes. We know most people in prison in Virginia are coming back to our community at some point. We should reform the system, improve parole standards and expectations, and create incentives so that before people leave prison, they can participate in treatment and other programs to prepare them to return home, and allow them to earn time off their sentence. By creating opportunities to reduce sentences for those who have shown they are ready for a second chance, we can help formerly incarcerated people transition to lives beyond crime.

Third, we have to change our drug policies. We should reduce our reliance on arresting, jailing and incarcerating people with a drug problem, and redirect those resources to less expensive and more effective ways to address people’s needs. By reinvesting some of what we are spending on the criminal justice system to support our education and treatment systems, we will have critical impact on reducing the cycle of crime, and build our workforce.

Finally, as long as we see such deep racial disparities in arrests and incarceration, large portions of our community will lose faith that the public safety system can work for them. We need to focus on why we are seeing such inequities in the justice system, and follow the lead of other states that are reviewing laws that generate such unfairness.

By refocusing the system on less expensive, more effective and fairer policies, we can give more Virginians a second chance to move past crime, and restore faith in the commonwealth’s ability to solve our public safety and community development challenges.

Following the success of their initial series last summer, a coalition of civil rights groups is partnering again for a 10-city tour of Virginia to raise awareness around justice issues that affect people with criminal records, and to provide direct services. Called the Mobile Justice Tour, the event re-launches on Saturday, December 14, with a focus on three key issues: civil rights restoration for citizens with felony convictions, removing questions about an applicant’s criminal background from initial employment forms, and sentencing reform to end mass incarceration in Virginia.

Host organizations for the Mobile Justice Tour include Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged (RIHD); Bridging the Gap in Virginia; Virginia Organizing; Advancement Project; and Justice Policy Institute. The tour’s second go-around, however, is fueled by ordinary citizens – college students, members of church groups and other individuals across Virginia – who requested additional stops in their cities.

“The first Mobile Justice Tour was so successful, it inspired everyday Virginians to reach out to us and proactively bring this information and these resources to their own communities” said RIHD Executive Director and tour co-moderator Lillie Branch-Kennedy. “Last time, in city after city, we found so many people were simply unaware of laws and policies that can empower them. From the new process for automatic voting rights restoration, to the statewide momentum toward ‘ban the box’ employment application reform, folks had no idea about available alternatives for changing their lives. This tour empowered people just by providing the information, and we look forward to hitting the road again.”

At each stop of the tour, legal and policy experts will discuss:

· Restoration of Rights: There are two ways for people with felony convictions to get their rights back, depending on whether one’s conviction is classified as “nonviolent” or “violent.” The MJT will explain how to register and apply for both processes, as well as discuss recommendations for further streamlining these policies so they can reach more impacted people.

· “Ban the Box” Employment Application Reform: Since the first Mobile Justice Tour, the governments of two more cities, Petersburg and Virginia Beach, have passed policies to remove the question about an individual’s criminal history from the initial employment application. The MJT will advocate for other Virginia governments and private businesses to “Ban the Box” and reduce barriers that prevent our community members from finding work.

· Mass Incarceration & Successful Re-Entry: Even as crime has decreased in Virginia, the state’s drug violation policies, as well as its approaches to sentencing and parole, have led to a mass incarceration crisis of crowded jails and prisons. The MJT will advocate for solutions including a reduced focus on drug offenses, increasing the threshold for Virginia’s grand larceny felony (to account for inflation) and reinstating parole. Policy experts will also propose prisoner re-entry legislation for the 2014 General Assembly session, including prisoner educational, therapeutic and vocational rehabilitation.

“With a new governor coming into office next month, and the start of a new legislative session, this round of the Mobile Justice Tour is also an opportunity to illuminate specific policies that demand action from our elected officials,” said Richard Walker, founder and CEO of Bridging the Gap in Virginia and co-moderator of the tour. “With the 8th highest jail incarceration rate in the nation, and a felony disenfranchisement law that continues to strip the right to vote from more than 370,000 Virginians who have completed their sentences, Virginia’s justice system needs an overhaul. It is our hope that Governor-elect McAuliffe will show leadership on these issues to end mass incarceration and help reintegrate individuals back into our communities.”